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Meaning of "Day" in Genesis 1 Creation Account

The meaning of "day" (Hebrew: yom) in the Genesis 1 creation account has been a subject of extensive interpretation. Genesis 1:5 states, "Naming the light, Day, and the dark, Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day" [2]. This pattern of "evening and morning" marking each of the six creative periods is repeated throughout the chapter [3].

The traditional Jewish understanding, reflected in practices like reckoning the day from sunset to sunset, derives directly from this phrasing in Genesis 1:5 [5, 9]. This suggests a literal 24-hour period. The Midrash Rabbah notes the unique phrasing "one day" (yom echad) for the first day, rather than "the first day," suggesting a particular significance for this initial period [17]. Nachmanides (Ramban), a medieval Jewish scholar, explicitly states that the term "day" in the creation narrative refers to a "real day, composed of hours and seconds," like the ordinary days of the week [11]. He also interprets "for days" in Genesis 1:14 as referring to the length of day and night [12].

Many Christian commentators also interpret these "days" as literal 24-hour periods. Torrey's Topical Textbook asserts that creation occurred "in six normal days" [6]. John Gill, a Baptist commentator, explains that the "evening and the morning" constituted a full day, marked by the "vicissitude of light and darkness" due to the rotation of the earth or the movement of light [15]. He views the entire account in Genesis 1 as describing the work of each of these six days [14]. Similarly, Adam Clarke, a Methodist commentator, outlines the specific creative acts performed on each of the six days [16]. Keil and Delitzsch, in their commentary on Genesis, emphasize that the creation account is intended to be accepted as "actual truth," including the description of creation in its "several stages" over these days [18]. The Jamieson, Fausset & Brown commentary also describes the events of the "first day" as God's command bringing visible light out of primeval gloom [10].

However, other interpretations exist. Augustine, a prominent early Church Father, held a different view, suggesting that the "seven days" might represent "one day represented in a sevenfold aspect" rather than seven distinct, successive days [13]. Thomas Aquinas, in his Summa Theologica, discusses Augustine's perspective, noting that Augustine understood "day" to signify knowledge or illumination, differing from those who saw them as distinct temporal days [13]. This view suggests a more metaphorical or theological understanding of the "days" as phases of divine activity rather than strict chronological units.

The Hebrew word yom itself can have a broader meaning than a 24-hour period. For instance, Genesis 5:1 uses "in the day of God's preparing man" to refer to a more extended period [1]. Similarly, prophetic texts like Zephaniah 1:15 use "day" to denote an era or a significant period, such as "a day of wrath" [4]. However, the recurring phrase "evening and morning" in Genesis 1 strongly suggests a literal day-night cycle [2, 3].

The broader literary context of Genesis 1 presents a structured, orderly account of creation, culminating in the Sabbath rest on the seventh day. This structure forms the basis for the weekly cycle observed in Jewish and Christian traditions. Moses is traditionally identified as the author of Genesis, writing it during the Israelite wandering in the wilderness, around 1491-1451 B.C. [8]. The book covers a vast span of time, from creation to the death of Joseph [8]. The term "create" (bara) is used specifically for the origin of matter, life, and the human soul, suggesting distinct acts of divine intervention [7].

Sources

  1. Genesis “Genesis 5:1 (YLT) — This <FI>is<Fi> an account of the births of Adam: In the day of God's preparing man, in the likeness of God He hath made him;”
  2. Genesis “Genesis 1:5 (BBE) — Naming the light, Day, and the dark, Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.”
  3. Genesis “God called the expanse “sky”. There was evening and there was morning, a second day. -- Genesis 1:8”
  4. Zephaniah “Zephaniah 1:15 (ASV) — That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,”
  5. Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Day — The Jews reckoned the day from sunset to sunset (Lev. 23:32). It was originally divided into three parts (Ps. 55:17). "The heat of the day" (1 Sam. 11:11; Neh. 7:3) was at our nine o'clock, and "the cool of the day" just before sunset (Gen. 3:8). Before the Captivity the Jews divided the night into three watches, (1) from sunset to midnight (Lam. 2:19); (2) from midnight till the cock-crowing (Judg. 7:19); and (3) from the cock-crowing till sunrise (Ex. 14:24). In the New Testament the division of the Greeks and Romans into four watches was adopted (Mark 13:35)”
  6. Torrey's Topical Textbook “Torrey's Topical Textbook: Creation — The formation of things which had no previous existence -- Ro 4:17; Heb 11:3. Effected By God. -- Ge 1:1; 2:4,5; Pr 26:10. By Christ. -- Joh 1:3,10; Col 1:16. By the Holy Spirit. -- Job 26:13; Ps 104:30. By the command of God. -- Ps 33:9; Heb 11:3. In the beginning. -- Ge 1:1; Mt 24:21. In six normal days. -- Ex 20:11; 31:17. According to God's purpose. -- Ps 135:6. For God's pleasure. -- Pr 16:4; Re 4:11. For Christ. -- Col 1:16. By faith we believe, to be God's work -- Heb 11:3. Order of First day, making light and dividing it from darkness. -- Ge 1:3-5;”
  7. Smith's Bible Dictionary “Smith's Bible Dictionary: Creation — (The creation of all things is ascribed in the Bible to God, and is the only reasonable account of the origin of the world. The method of creation is not stated in Genesis, and as far as the account there is concerned, each part of it may be, after the first acts of creation, by evolution, or by direct act of God's will. The word create (bara) is used but three times in the first chapter of Genesis-- (1) as to the origin of matter; (2) as to the origin of life; (3) as to the origin of man's soul; and science has always failed to do any of these acts thus as”
  8. Smith's Bible Dictionary “Smith's Bible Dictionary: Genesis — (origin), the first book of the law or Pentateuch, so called from its title ia the Septuagint, that is, Creation . Its author was Moses. The date of writing was probably during the forty-years wanderings in the wilderness, B.C. 1491-1451. Time .--The book of Genesis covered 2369 years,--from the creation of Adam, A.M 1, to the death of Joseph, A.M. 2369, or B.C. 1635. Character and purpose .--The book of Genesis (with the first chapters of Exodus) describes the steps which led to the establishment of the theocracy. It is a part of the writer's plan to tell u”
  9. Smith's Bible Dictionary “Smith's Bible Dictionary: Day — The variable length of the natural day at different seasons led in the very earliest times to the adoption of the civil day (or one revolution of the sun) as a standard of time. The Hebrews reckoned the day from evening to evening, (Leviticus 23:32) deriving it from (Genesis 1:5) "the evening and the morning were the first day." The Jews are supposed, like the modern Arabs, to have adopted from an early period minute specifications of the parts of the natural day. Roughly, indeed, they were content to divide it into "morning, evening and noonday," (Psalms 55:17)”
  10. Genesis (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Genesis 1:3: THE FIRST DAY. (Gen 1:3-5) God said--This phrase, which occurs so repeatedly in the account means: willed, decreed, appointed; and the determining will of God was followed in every instance by an immediate result. Whether the sun was created at the same time with, or long before, the earth, the dense accumulation of fogs and vapors which enveloped the chaos had covered the globe with a settled gloom. But by the command of God, light was rendered visible; the thick murky clouds were dispersed, broken, or rarefied, and light diffused over the expanse o”
  11. Sefaria (Jewish (Kabbalistic/Philosophical)) “Ramban (Nachmanides) on Genesis 1:3: AND THERE WAS LIGHT. The verse does not say, “And it was so,” as it is said on other days, because the light did not remain in this state all the time, as did the other creations. Concerning this matter, our Rabbis have an interpretation with a profound secret. 72 Ramban’s hint here is to the Sefer Habahir, 190. See my Hebrew commentary pp. 15—16. Know that the term “day” as used in the story of the creation was, in the case of the creation of heaven and earth, a real day, composed of hours and seconds, and there were six days like the six days of the workw”
  12. Sefaria (Jewish (Kabbalistic/Philosophical)) “Ramban (Nachmanides) on Genesis 1:14: AND FOR DAYS. This means the length of day and the length of night.”
  13. theology (Catholic (Scholastic)) “Aquinas, Summa Theologica, First Part (Prima Pars), On All the Seven Days in Common, Art. 2: Article: Whether all these days are one day? I answer that, On this question Augustine differs from other expositors. His opinion is that all the days that are called seven, are one day represented in a sevenfold aspect (Gen. ad lit. iv, 22; De Civ. Dei xi, 9; Ad Orosium xxvi); while others consider there were seven distinct days, not one only. Now, these two opinions, taken as explaining the literal text of Genesis, are certainly widely different. For Augustine understands by the word "day," the knowl”
  14. Genesis (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Genesis 1 (introduction): This chapter contains an account of the creation of the universe, and all things in it; asserts the creation of the heaven and earth in general, and describes the state and condition of the earth in its first production, Gen 1:1 and then proceeds to declare the work of each of the six days of creation, and to give an account of light, its separation from darkness and the names of both, the work of the first day, Gen 1:3 of the firmament, its use and name, the work of the second day, Gen 1:6 of the appearance of the earth, and the production of grass, herb”
  15. Genesis (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Genesis 1:5: And God called the light day, and the darkness he called night,.... Either by the circulating motion of the above body of light, or by the rotation of the chaos on its own axis towards it, in the space of twenty four hours there was a vicissitude of light and darkness; just as there is now by the like motion either of the sun, or of the earth; and which after this appellation God has given, we call the one, day, and the other, night: and the evening and the morning were the first day: the evening, the first part of the night, or darkness, put for the whole night, wh”
  16. Genesis (Methodist/Wesleyan) “Adam Clarke on Genesis 1 (introduction): First day's work - Creation of the heavens and the earth, Gen 1:1, Gen 1:2. Of the light and its separation from the darkness, Gen 1:3-5. Second day's work - The creation of the firmament, and the separation of the waters above the firmament from those below it, Gen 1:6-8. Third day's work - The waters are separated from the earth and formed into seas, etc., Gen 1:9, Gen 1:10. The earth rendered fruitful, and clothed with trees, herbs, grass, etc., Gen 1:11-13. Fourth day's work - Creation of the celestial luminaries intended for the measurement of time”
  17. Midrash Rabbah (Jewish (Rabbinic)) “Midrash Rabbah, Bamidbar Rabbah 13:6: “On the first day” – Rabbi Shmuel bar Abba said: What is “the first day”? Since the first day that the Holy One blessed be He created the world, He desired to dwell with His creations in the lower worlds. See what is written regarding the creation of the first day: “It was evening; it was morning, one day” (Genesis 1:5). “The first day” is not written, but rather “one day.” Just as the verse says “one day,” the verse could have said “two days,” “three days”? Rather, why did the verse say “one day”? 29 The first day is described as "one day", not the first ”
  18. Genesis (Lutheran) “Keil & Delitzsch on Genesis 1 (introduction): The Creation of the World - Genesis 1:1-2:3 The account of the creation, its commencement, progress, and completion, bears the marks, both in form and substance, of a historical document in which it is intended that we should accept as actual truth, not only the assertion that God created the heavens, and the earth, and all that lives and moves in the world, but also the description of the creation itself in all its several stages. If we look merely at the form of this document, its place at the beginning of the book of Genesis is sufficient to war”
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